Mission: The ASDC supports and educates families of deaf and hard of hearing children and advocates for high quality programs and services.

Core values:

Communication Access We believe deaf or hard-of-hearing children are entitled to full communication access in their home, school, and community. We also believe that language development, respect for the Deaf, and access to deaf and hard-of-hearing role models are important to assure optimal intellectual, social, and emotional development.

Child We believe there should be access to identification and intervention by qualified providers, family involvement, and educational opportunities equal to those provided for hearing child ren. The goal should be to provide children what they need in order to become self-supporting and fulfilled adults.

Parent We affirm that parents have the right and responsibility to be primary decision-makers and advocates. For this role, parents need education, access to information, and support.

Services: This is primarily a support and information group, but some services are offered free of charge.

First Year Free: Through the generous sponsorship of an anonymous donor, families of newly identified deaf and hard of hearing children may join ASDC for a year at no cost through First Year Free. First Year Free families receive all the benefits of ASDC membership, including The Endeavor, parent information and referral line, Lending Library, and more. If you are the parent of a newly identified deaf or hard of hearing child and wish to receive information about enrolling in First Year Free, please call ASDC at 800/942-ASDC.

There are links to different camps, which may or may not offer camperships. However, there is the annual 2008 Summer Academy in Computing for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students at the University of Washington.

The University of Washington announces it's 2008 Summer Academy for Advancing Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Computing.

The 2008 Summer Academy seeks to find the top 10 deaf and hard of hearing students, 18 and over, who excel in and enjoy math, science and/or computing (students 16 and 17 years of age who have exhibited exceptional scholastic achievement in math, science and/or computing may be considered for admission under specific conditions and waivers). This is a challenging academic program from which participants will receive college credit.

The Summer Academy is designed to introduce computing to deaf and hard of hearing students considering computer science, computer engineering, information science, information systems or information technology as a career, either in industry or academia. Admission is very competitive, based on an assessment of academic ability and enthusiasm to participate in an intensive learning experience in all things computing.

The program is fully funded by the National Science Foundation, tuition, room and board, and transportation will be provided at no cost to selected applicants. This is truly an exciting opportunity.